Entries from Westport Public Library BOOK blog tagged with 'truecrime'
Shocking news
There are any number of novels based on true crimes. Dominick Dunne has written a number of these. A Season in Purgatory, based on the murder of Martha Moxley in Greenwich comes first to mind. Edgar-winning author Megan Abbott has a new novel, Bury Me Deep, inspired by the Infamous "Trunk Murderess" Winnie Ruth Judd. Abbott’s protagonist Marion Seeley, a young woman abandoned in Phoenix by her doctor husband, finds a job at a medical clinic. She becomes fast friends with Louise, a vivacious nurse, and her roommate, Ginny. Marion is swept up in the exuberant life of the girls, who supplement their scant income by entertaining the town's most powerful men with wild parties. She becomes involved with a local rogue, Joe Lanigan, and when the other women confront Marion about her relationship with Joe, a heated argument leads to murder. Publishers Weekly promises us a “shocking ending.”Stories to Be Read with the Lights On
A treasury of thrillers that I cherished in my youth was one of the Alfred Hitchcock collections called Stories to Be Read with the Lights On. A few of the authors who have signed on for Murder 203 write the kind of fiction and non-fiction that bring these stories—and all of the nights I really did sleep with the lights on—to mind.! Jennifer McMahon’s novel Promise Not to Tell is not just another scary story—it is an impressive blend of suspense, the supernatural and self-discovery. On the night Kate Cypher returns home to rural Vermont to care for her ailing mother, a young girl is murdered in the same way Kate's childhood friend, Del, nicknamed the "Potato Girl" by her mean-spirited classmates, was killed 30 years ago—a horrific crime. Del's killer was never found, and the victim had since achieved immortality in local legends and ghost stories. Kate, beset by guilt for her own part in the girl’s persecution, reconnects with her childhood sweetheart, who is utterly convinced that Del's ghost is seeking its revenge.Natural selection
The inclusion of Darwin’s theory of evolution in the science curriculum is still under fire in many places and in some cases attitudes and beliefs have not changed much since the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial. Ona Russell has written a recent historical mystery set at that trial, The Natural Selection, which incorporates all of the key figures, including H.L. Mencken, William Jennings Bryan, and Clarence Darrow, as well as actual courtroom excerpts. Her protagonist, Sarah Kaufman, is a Jewish probate court official in Toledo, Ohio. She heads south to visit with her cousin and ends up in Dayton, Tennessee -- where the trial is underway -- working with Mencken to solve the murder of the cousin’s colleague, an enigmatic college professor who has left behind a cryptic Darwinian message for them. Do not mistake this is for a cozy mystery. Sarah’s search for the truth is a harrowing one as she encounters bigotry and brutality and exhausts her physical strength and psychological reserves in the process.A Mainely man
Kate Flora’s Portland, Maine, homicide detective Joe Burgess perseveres in his investigations despite his personal demons and he never quits until the guilty party is brought to justice. Flora’s latest book, The Angel of Knowlton Park, received a starred review in Booklist, which said “Flora excels at portraying the police as real people with strengths and weaknesses who unite to bring some measure of justice to the dead and living alike. Flora's thought-provoking second police procedural marks her as one of the best in the genre.”Private Eyes, They're Watching You
Inside the Private Eyes of a P.I. by Stamford based P.I. Vito Colucci gives a behind the scenes look into some of his high profile cases including those of Michael Skakel, Jayson Williams and George Smith. If the name sounds familiar it is probably because Colucci pops up on television news shows, including Nancy Grace, Larry King Live, MSNBC and Fox News, all the time. By the way, Colucci steadfastly maintains Skakel’s innocence, but you will have to read the book to find out why!A bottle of red, a bottle of white
There is a new true crime paperback series from the folks who bring us 48 Hours, the CBS prime-time news series.
The first title in the series, Nightmare in Napa, relates the chilling story of the murders of two women on Halloween night, 2004.
There is a good selection of cozy mysteries set in Napa California wine country if the real thing is too scary for you.
Pulp fiction
Walter Satterthwait’s new crime novel Dead Horse is based on the mysterious death of Raoul Whitfield’s second wife Emily.
Although it was ruled a suicide, the book is built around its somewhat questionable circumstances.
Hard-boiled pulp writer Whitfield was the highest paid mystery writer in America in the 1920s and is believed to be Dashiell Hammett’s model for Nick Charles.
Truth is stranger than fiction
According to Mark Twain, “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.”
Two non-fiction true crime books passed through my hands recently that gave me reason to reflect upon this.
One is Stealing Lincoln’s Body by Thomas J. Craughwell, which is about an incident in 1876 involving several Chicago counterfeiters who attempted to steal Lincoln’s remains from his Springfield tomb. As a result, our 16th president now rests below several feet of cement.
The Amlingmeyer brothers ride again!
Fans of Steve Hockensmith's Holmes on the Range, this is your lucky day! "Old Red" and "Big Red" are back in the "detectifying" business in On the Wrong Track, which is hot off the presses. I so thoroughly enjoyed the first book, finding it the freshest take on the Holmes mystique in years.
If you want a real treat, try it on CD. Read by William Dufris, it is an absolute delight.
True of false test
Another interesting newspaper piece this week! In his February 6th Bookshelf column of the Wall Street Journal entitled Watching the Detectives, Tom Nolan discusses how the social and political climates of an era are often reflected in the personalities of its fictional detectives. It's not good news for any of us that the 21st century detective exhibits "wobbly emotion and crippling self-doubt."
And the nominees are ...
The Academy Award nominees may make the headlines but what mystery readers really care about are mystery award nominees!
On January 19th, the Mystery Writers of America announced the contenders for this year’s Edgar awards.
Conan Doyle, Detective
It should come as no surprise that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of legendary sleuth Sherlock Holmes, was something of an amateur detective himself.
The book Conan Doyle, Detective by Peter Costello explores the many actual investigations he involved himself with including Jack the Ripper, Dr. Crippen and, interestingly enough, the brief disappearance of Agatha Christie in 1916.
The emergence of the celebrity criminal
If you enjoyed Erik Larson's The Devil in The White City, which was a National Book Award finalist and a winner of the Edgar award for true crime writing, don’t miss Thunderstruck.
Court TV is presenting a new show called Murder by the Book
on Monday evenings beginning November 13 at 10 p.m.
They have invited some of today's top mystery writers to discuss their personal connections to the
"true life mysteries and headline making crimes that haunt their dreams at night."
From Connecticut’s very own Dr. Henry Lee
Although some may be surprised to find that he has himself tricked out as an action hero and something of a babe magnet in the character of Dr. Henry Liu, Dr. Henry Lee delivers the forensic goods in his new mystery The Budapest Connection.
Behold the power of … crime fiction?
After its publication in 2002, Betty Webb’s mystery Desert Wives rallied the anti-polygamy forces in Arizona to such an extent that by May, 2004, a law outlawing the forced "marriage" of minor children to polygamists was passed in Arizona, making this practice a felony.
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